[Elecraft] Re: New Band

[kc4kgu@ENTERZONE.NET]

On Sat, 11 May 2002, Mike wrote:

> BobDobson@aol.com wrote:
> 
> > And who else other than Elecraft would offer such an upgrade?
> 
> I think Ten-Tec has an ad in this month's QST that says how easy it will
> be to download a free 60m firmware upgrade for the Jupiter.  That seems
> really goofy to me, since nearly all other HF rig makers provide
> expanded HF transmit capability in a MUCH MUCH easier manner than
> through a downloaded firmware upgrade, which is always fraught with
> danger.
> 

There is much less danger in downloading new firmware to a rig than trying
to remove surface mount diodes from the matrix.  As a TS-2000 owner, I am
quite certain that Kenwood will also have a firmware upgrade for the rig.


> In all fairness, Kenwood, Yaesu, Icom, and Alinco have been designing
> their HF radios for the last 20 years to require as little as cutting
> one or two diode leads and resetting the microprocessor to obtain
> *complete* transmit coverage *anywhere* from 1.6 to 30 MHz.  The best
> set I've ever seen for accomodating this type of mod is the Kenwood
> TS-50S, in which the diode to be removed is the only large diode with
> wire leads on the affected PCB.

As a NAVMARCORMARS operator, my TS-2000 had "diode surgery" before it was
ever powered up.  The firmware upgrade will still be applied when it
becomes available.  Doing the upgrade will allow selection of the 60m band
using the band-up/band-down (+/- on the TS-2000) buttons vs having to
direct enter or dial into the band from an adjacent band.  Additionally,
for those folks who do not want to do diode surgery, the firmware upgrade
will also tell the rig that it is allowed to tx on that band.

> I understand why such a mechanism technically is not applicable to the
> Elecraft K2, but I've no idea why the Ten-Tec Jupiter (which has general
> coverage HF receive) needs anything more complicated unless the Ten-Tec
> people think their customers can't handle a general coverage transmit HF
> rig without getting into trouble.
> 
> 73,
> Mike / KK5F

Mike, in todays amateur radio community, you have two distinct groups of
people.  Appliance Operators (wouldn't take a soldering iron to their rig
to save their life!)  and Elecraft Operators (or those of like
mindset).  Sadly, the Appliance Operators outnumber the others by a HUGE
margin. The firmware upgrade path serves multiple functions for the
manufacturers.

(1) It allows "customer" upgrades saving time at the service center.  They
don't want to be flooded at their service center every time an upgrade is
released.

(2) It allows features that have not been thought of at the time of
production to be put into production with a simple modification of the
code.

(3) It is easier for all.  Which do you think is more
complicated?  (a) Opening the rig up and changing a diode matrix or
swapping a PROM.  (b) Plugging the rig into your computer and running a
vendor supplied program.  I'll vote for (b) EVERY time and I do *NOT*
count myself as an appliance operator.

73 de John - KC4KGU
K2 #2490